16/10/2013 North West Tonight

Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight with

Annabel Tiffin and Roger Johnson. Our top story: A deaf and mute

orphan girl kept in this cellar and treated as a servant ` a pensioner

is found guilty of rape and trafficking. She has been exploited

systematically over a long period of time in the worst possible way.

Jurors wept as the Gaultier verdict was delivered. `` the guilty verdict

was delivered. The 10`year`old was travelling on the passport of a

20`year`old when she was trafficked into the country, and Border Agency

officials failed to spot it. And nobody is found in the search

for Helen McCourt. The dozens of NHS whistle`blowers

coming forward every week ` we have a special report.

How the orient could save Stockport County's fortunes. And it's not just

Kylie. The research looking at the catchy

tunes we can't get out of OUR heads. She was trafficked into the

country, repeatedly raped, used as a slave and sexually exploited.

Tonight, Ilyas Ashar, the man responsible for this catalogue of

appalling crimes against the deaf mute orphan is facing spending the

rest of his life in prison. Juror wept as the verdict was

delivered. A legal order has now been lifted and we can tell. Rory ``

we can tell that. Ray of the abuse. For our most decade this `` for

almost a decade the seller was the home of a poor girl who was

trafficked into this country. It is absolutely devastating. She has been

exploited systematically over a long period of time in the worst possible

way. She had been brought into Britain from Pakistan in 2000. Her

passport said she was 20, in fact she was closer to ten, yet amazingly

no one in a forest he noticed. So she lived in the seller, forced into

domestic servitude and repeatedly raped. This afternoon, Ilyas Ashar

was convicted on 13 counts of rape against the girl. But they were then

told information which was present `` previously kept from them. The

fact that he and his wife had already been convicted of

trafficking the girl into Britain to put her into forced labour. And of

benefit fraud. They had used her name to make fraudulent claims. Two

members of the jury wept when he heard that. The judge said it had

been kept from them so as not to influence their decision. She was

used as forced labour, ill treated and exploited financially and

repeatedly raped by Ilyas Ashar We have been trying to bring the couple

to justice for this catalogue of abuse. What is happening to her

now? She is being supported, living a good life now. Living up to her

true potential, she is a bright girl. This afternoon, we are asked

`` we as Ilyas Ashar's wife what had happened.

By the time the girl was found in Eccles her ordeal had gone on from

Worcester decade. During that time she passed through UK immigration on

many occasions, yet no one realised what was going on. It has now raised

serious questions about the effectiveness of order checks. Our

reporter has the looking at how the little girl went unnoticed.

In court, the prosecution said it was a "mystery and matter of

concern'' how a child that age could get through immigration and there

may be "significant and proper' criticism of the Border Agency,

whose role had a "good deal to answer for". They're not the only

ones who want answers. Serious questions need to be asked in this

case. I will be asking the Home Secretary how this came to be. How

could a passport check not sure that a child of ten is not a 20`year`old?

That is not a mistake that anybody should make. Secondly, if there was

not doubt about that, by reason not `` why were there not more attempts

to communicate with this child? In court, the prosecution said it

was a So how did she get into the country?

Well, we understand that at Heathrow in 2000 the immigration Service

which is now part of the UK Border Agency, allowed the girl, who was

then just ten years old, into the country. They accepted the

explanation that she was going to work as a domestic servant. We

understand that she was travelling on a valid Pakistani passport, not a

fake, and that that described her as being 20 years old ` twice her real

age. That deception was missed by British border officials, Pakistani

officials, medical staff who examined her, and airline staff And

as they later moved her in and out of the country, that age gap was

again missed by immigration staff at Manchester Airport. Human traffiking

is the fastest`growing international crime according to the charities

that help the victims. This case began 13 years ago, and one

organisation told us that efforts to detect this type of crime have

improved over the years. I was involved recently in training at

Manchester airport and was a whole be put on for airport staff on how

to spot the signs, what the procedures are, because there are

laws and policies and procedures in place and there are not being

followed across`the`board and across the country. Everybody needs to wake

up to this. Take it seriously and use the procedures that are in

place. This girl was stumbled upon by accident ` not by Border Agency

staff or police, but by Trading Standards officers looking for

something completely different. So tonight the question remains how

she went undiscovered for so long. We put this catalogue of failures to

the UK Border Agency and the Home Office. In a statement, the Home

Office said this was a shocking case, where officials in both the UK

and Pakistan had failed. They said they were determined to fight

trafficking and were bringing in a Modern Slavery Bill during this

session of Parliament. They are also working with the Border Agency to

help them better identify and support potential victims.

Next tonight, police investigating the disappearance and murder of a

young woman 25 years ago are digging up a grave at a churchyard in

Billinge near Wigan. The body of Helen McCourt has never been found.

A pub landlord, Ian Simms, was found guilty of her murder. Tonight in an

exclusive interview Helen's mother Marie told us she desperately hopes

the police will finally find her daughter.

But in the last error we have learned that on this occasion they

have found nothing. Such hope for the families, such

optimism this morning. But tonight, as I mentioned, news that the search

has been unsuccessful. That is right. The police were acting on a

tip`off that Helen McCourt's body may have been in a particular plot

your, one that was apparently open at the time she disappeared 25 years

ago. The tip`off did not come from Ian Simms, the man who killed Helen

McCourt, but they said that the intelligence was strong enough for

them to act on. They had to get permission from the Bishop of

Liverpool's of this, the family who own the plot, to carry out the work

today. In the last few moments we had the announcement that the

contents of the grave that was open and match the church records and

Helen McCourt's body was in fact not in this graveyard. What does that

mean for Helen McCourt's family It is desperately sad for them. Helen

McCourt's mother Marie has spent 25 years scouring the area here trying

to find her body because it is so important to get a proper burial.

Ian Simms will not save where he disposed of the body. In an

interview a few hours ago, Marie McCourt told us why it was so

important that she finds her daughter's body. We have never been

able to acknowledge anything of how Helen died. It is too much torment

for a mother to carry with her. I have had to carry it for 25 years.

In that interview, Marie McCourt used to telling phrase about Ian

Simms. She said that they were like Siamese twins. He has information

that he won't divulge, she needs that information. He was due to have

a parole hearing in February or March this year but that was

cancelled. Marie McCourt does not know why. She has been told that his

next parole hearing will not be before March next year. She of

course will again be fighting to make sure that Ian Simms is not

released from jail. She believes he is a dangerous man and the search

for the body of her daughter, the thing that is so important to her,

will continue. Other news from around the North

West now, and a convicted murderer from Blackpool who killed his

seven`year`old niece has lost his fight to vote while in prison. Peter

Chester is serving a life sentence for strangling Donna Marie Gillbanks

in 1977. He'd argued that EU law gave him a right to vote, even

though he can't under British Law. Donna Marie's mother has welcomed

the decision by the Supreme Court. I'm absolutely delighted by that

decision. I don't think that they should have never been able to go to

court to try to get this. They've lost all their human rights when

they go into prison. I don't have any human rights and neither did my

daughter who he strangled and raped. A spending watchdog has questioned

the BBC's decision to spend ?24 million relocating staff to Salford.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee says that although the

move to Media City has largely been successful some of the pay`outs were

excessive. The BBC says the amount spent reflects "higher stamp duty

and other costs involved in relocating staff who owned

high`value properties in the South East".

Jewellery confiscated from criminals in Merseyside is being sold on eBay

by police. Half the proceeds will go to the police force, the other half

to the Government. Items in the auction include a diamond watch

worth thousands of pounds that was seized during a drugs raid under the

Proceeds of Crime Act. And the latest phase of a two`year

project to restore a Liverpool park has begun. Volunteers are helping to

improve Otterspool Park by planting woodland, restoring ponds and

improving access. Lancashire Wildlife Trust hopes it will become

a nature reserve. North West Tonight can reveal that

dozens of NHS whistle`blowers are coming forward every week in the

region with concerns around failing care. It comes as the Royal

Blackburn is given more formal warnings over patient safety.

It was already in special measures when a member of staff from A

reported problems to the NHS watchdog, the Care Quality

Commission. She claimed patients were repeatedly being failed, and

nobody was listening. Here's our Health Correspondent Nina Warhurst.

How did it come to this? A member of staff here at Blackburn's AMD

reporting their own team. `` A On the back of the whistle`blower's

warnings, here is one example of what the inspectors found. The

lady, who had dementia, was sat in a chair for several hours, with a

hospital going on, not even adequate clothing to protect her dignity

They have been given yet more severe warning notices. But dozens of

whistle`blowers are coming forward across the North West West every

week, just like the one at the Royal Blackburn. For many of the staff

here, that person was incredibly passionate about the job and wanted

to do their very best by patients, but they said that when they tried

to report problems nobody listened. It cannot have been easy, but they

felt they had no other option but to go to the inspectors. We listen to

stuff all the time. This whistle`blower said that they tried

to refer the problems but were not listened to. People can raise

concerns with us, we will take it seriously. We have an instant

reporting system, we take that very seriously. Were entering `` we are

entering a new period of transparency. We believe that the

actual incidence of people reporting concerns is because they are greater

now due to the financial cutbacks and pressures on staff. There is an

impressive recovery plan in place at the Royal Blackburn. But here and

across the NHS in stilling a culture for cleaner, clinician and

consultant feel confident to speak out will take much longer.

It is incredible, what is behind of whistle`blowers coming forward every

week? That is right, dozens coming forward every week. Perhaps the most

shocking thing to come out of the report into what happened at Mid

Staffordshire was that staff knew what was happening was wrong but

they felt powerless to say anything. The head of the NHS pledged that

whistle`blowers within the NHS would be legally protected. We could see

the impact of that trickling through. Paramedics, nurses,

porters, what they say is, the reality is that they are very busy

and do not have time to feed up the information to their managers. We

still have an to feed up the information to their managers. We

still haven't fully long way to go. We have will have the weather in a

moment. Still to come on North West Tonight.

In the sport we'll have an exclusive report on a possible financial

lifeline from the Far East for Stockport County.

And what makes a song stick in your head? The new research trying to

find out. Let's get back on the road to

recovery now, with Jayne McCubbin and Mr Osborne. Tonight they're

visiting two places badly hit by public`sector cuts ` Liverpool and

Wirral. New figures today show unemployment in the region has gone

up in the last three months. 294,000 people are now unemployed `

an increase of 24,000. But can people see recovery on the horizon?

Here's Jayne. We're back on the road with Mr

Osborne. Heading down to Liverpool. An order in city transformed by new

money, regeneration, manufacturing might, job creation, export growth.

But that is not the whole story Perhaps this new investment better

reflects the city's fortunes. 3 jobs have been created at the new ?1

cafe, a hot meal for a quid. This tells you it is a city which is

skint. Denise and her daughter represent the one in three Liverpool

households were nobody works. I would hate to be a teenager now

because there is nothing for them. When I was a teenager I could go and

work in the chippy. The roles of `` there was always something. Neither

is nothing. But there is better news for Susan who has just landed a job

here. You were employed for... 3 years. And then you're unemployed

for a year? But now I have this job. But as the Chancellor's plan

turning good for anybody else? Economic recovery is not being felt

here in the city. 1600 jobs we have lost in the public sector, that is

the equivalent of two Jaguar Land Rover factories closing. Let us go

to Birkenhead, also badly hit by public sector job losses. We have

been too reliant on public sector employment, that is not a bad thing

but it means that there is not enough employment in the private

sector. The balance is wrong. So we are bringing Mr Osborne back out of

the boot over the water. What is his verdict on the recovery here? Shops

are closing down every single week. It's not getting better yet? It s

not. How do you think it's doing? Seems to be doing fine. More

confidence in people. There's a lot more people I know that getting more

work. What line of work? Construction industry. It's rubbish.

Norway. `` Noel way. In yet another completely unscientific poll, many

said yes, things are getting better, more people said that they are not.

I wonder what reception he will get in Chester.

Richard is here the sport. We have been talking about the economy of

football little bit now. There could be some welcome news from China for

Stockport County. Explain. Stockport County fans will remember the club's

ambitious and in many ways ground`breaking tours of China. .the

first of them over ten years ago. This is a brochure from that first

visit to the West of China in 2 01. County then went over again in 004

and helped to build up and invest in a club in the North East of the

country that was called Stockport Tiger Star. Now North West Tonight

has learnt a group of Chinese businessmen, involved at that time,

and who remember how Stockport helped them, are coming over here

with a view to possibly offering some financial help or investment to

County, who of course now are a non`league club. Here's our

exclusive report. Sometimes going the extra mile in

Stockport's case can make all the difference. When they travel to the

remote west of China in 2001 they were greeted like superstars. And

just like their next to three years later, next time in front of the

north`east, they played in front of huge crowds. Their former financial

director has since become an expert in investment in British clubs. It

was the true that became famous because we got a bigger crowd than

Manchester United did in the city that we went to than the dead in

Beijing on your subsequent tour Liverpool are now deeply involved,

following the lights of Bolton Wanderers and Everton. It was

important for us in two ways. One was the media exposure and trying to

get the name of Everton across to all of the Chinese football finance.

And then there was also unearthing some great football talent. I'm not

sure that the TV numbers in terms of the Premier League contract in China

are good now, but it must be sizeable. It becomes a very big

important market. One decade on and the ground`breaking work could be

about to come full circle. With Stockport now won their uppers,

they've let it be known they love to return the favour. All those years

ago the relationship was the other way and it was Stockport who were up

here doing the helping out with the brand building. Now it is the other

way round. What goes around comes around. We hope that they do have

come here and perhaps to say to get involved in the little club down the

road. New line Exciting news. They're

expected at the beginning of next month, aren't they?

And good news for Lancashire as well. England star James Anderson

has signed a new contract at Emirates Old Trafford.

Yes, Jimmy has added an extra year to his current deal that sees him

through until the end of the 20 5 season. And after signing the deal,

England's highest all`time wicket`taker said he was always

proud to wear the Lancashire shirt and is delighted to extend his stay.

Have a listen to this. Bet you can't get that out of head. Or this.

MUSIC: Abba "Waterloo". As part of a major science project at the Museum

of Science and Industry in Manchester, people are being asked

to nominate their most catchy song. The research could help treat

illnesses such as dementia and Alzheimer's. Elaine Dunkley reports.

There are songs we like to remember and ones we'd rather forget, but

getting a song stuck in your head could open up a world of research

into the mind. What can we learn from a catchy song? Two as a

scientist what we are interested in his musical memory. When you think

of a catchy song you think, it makes me want to move or it is our song

that I like. But it also keys into your long`term musical memory. You

may hear a song ten years ago and then you hear it again and you can

have a sudden say, I have heard that before, I know that. This is one of

the biggest experiments of its kind for the Manchester science Festival,

with members of the public compiling a scientific playlist. We want to

get 100,000 people involved in Manchester and then global. Go

online, get involved. Take a simple survey. It is very quick. Tell us

what you catchy tune might be. Submit that, but also tell us a

little bit about what you think makes it catchy. Throwing shapes at

this silent disco is all in the name of scientific research. So what

makes a song catchy? Dancing Queen by Abba. It is great. I have had the

tune from Tetris stuck in my head for the last 20 years. HE SINGS

Just over and over again. You try to get rid of it for years and it is

just stuck there. Being able to name that change could

become significant in our understanding of the memory.

Good evening. We had a lot of rain around this afternoon. Very, very

soggy indeed. I can show you the path that the rain took. It came in

from the south`west where the green flashes are. That is where the

heaviest of the rain was. There are disappointing in terms of

temperatures. Tomorrow looks better. More rain in terms of Friday into

Saturday. More rain into Sunday For tonight into Sunday there are still

some hefty showers working in from across the Irish Sea. I think for

however `` I think however as we head into Thursday we hang onto some

cloud. It will be breezy as well but because of the cloud it is a mild

night, temperatures dropping to seven or eight Celsius. The picture

for tomorrow looks so much better. Drier and brighter tomorrow. Having

said that, there will be the odd rogue shower snaking through. We

have a change in the wind direction. When is much lighter. The cloud

continues to melt away. The lighter winds wealthier pretty well for the

temperature. This is what's coming your way on Friday. I think that

might hold off until Friday night into Saturday. A bit miserable.

I you not tempted to dance over Maybe next week.

If you were up early this morning, you will have probably seen the

absolutely beautiful pink sky that we had for the sunrise. Many of you

have sent in beautiful pictures We have had them from all over the

place, Lancashire, Manchester, Merseyside and Cumbria. Thank you

for them. You some of the. Good night. `` here are some of the best.

Good night. You ask us to get behind you

and why should we? You're punching above

your weight, aren't you? He wouldn't do that to me because

he wasn't that sort of a man.